Eurofighter Typhoon set for 'Praetorian Evolution'

The 'Praetorian Evolution' concept

The EuroDASS consortium, providers of the Eurofighter Typhoon's 'Praetorian' Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS), has launched a future defensive capability concept for the aircraft – 'Praetorian Evolution’.

The consortium, consisting of Leonardo, Elettronica, Indra and HENSOLDT, announced the concept at the EuroDASS Future Capability user conference, which was attended by senior military and industry delegations from Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - the core partner nations in the Eurofighter programme. The concept launch follows the announcement of the 'Praetorian Long Term Evolution (LTE)' study, earlier this year, which seeks to evolve options for 'long-term technical solutions and enablers' in order to sustain the Typhoon's future growth path.

Evolving the Eurofighter capabilities

The current 'Praetorian' DASS provides the Typhoon fighter jet with integrated sensors and jamming equipment, giving it what the manufacturers call 'a digital stealth capability' with increased situational awareness through 'advanced electronic deception techniques’. It also protects the Typhoon from threats such as heat-seeking, infrared and radar-guided missiles. 

'Praetorian Evolution' proposes to give the Eurofighter increased protection against more surface threats, including Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS). The consortium also proposes a number of advanced new capabilities including 'multi-platform electronic warfare (EW) and combat ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) functions such as high-precision targeting and advanced combat identification'. The companies say the concept follows an all-digital architecture, making future upgrades easy to integrate and keeping life cycle costs low.

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